TRIES

CONVERSIONS

Super League: Castleford Tigers v Bradford Bulls preview

Castleford Tigers will be looking to put the disappointment of their Tetley’s Challenge Cup final behind them when they tackle Bradford Bulls on Sunday.

The Tigers, who are sixth in the table three points behind second-placed Wigan Warriors, suffered a 23-10 loss to Leeds Rhinos last Saturday.

The Bulls have been galvanised under head coach James Lowes and they make the short trip to Castleford on Sunday on the back of three straight wins, including triumphs over Wigan and Leeds.

Castleford head coach Daryl Powell will be making at least two changes to his final team with injuries ruling out prop Craig Huby and winger Justin Carney.

Experienced forward Garreth Carvell and winger James Clare are favourites to replace Huby and Carney for Sunday’s mouth-watering clash.

“Bradford have really improved so you’d expect it will be a big challenge,” Powell told the Pontefract and Castleford Express.

“Jimmy Lowes has done a good job there straight away. They’ve tidied up and won three big games - two of them beating Wigan and Leeds, which is a magnificent effort.

Shackles off

“They are going to be tough to knock off. It looks like the shackles are off and they are not being weighed down by any sort of burden.

For Bradford, Lowes looks set to recall trio Jamal Fakir, Luke George and Nathan Conroy for Sunday's trip to Castleford.

All three look set to feature but skipper Matt Diskin and Elliot Kear have been ruled out injured, with Jamie Foster also missing the round twenty-five clash.

“I’ve played against Cas three times for Hull, winning twice and losing once, and it has been a bit weird,” Bradford’s on-loan centre Joe Arundel told the Telegraph and Argus.

“It’ll be an interesting game because Cas played in a very intense final last week and will have the emotion of losing it. We had that at Hull last year, losing in the Challenge Cup final to Wigan, and it’s hard.

“At Bradford now, we are in a good run of form and are hoping to win our last three games. That’s our target.”